The invention relates to a particular type of circumcision device designed to avoid complications associated therewith.
Circumcisions have been performed for many years using a circumcision device of the type having a tapered, bell-shaped ring adapted to fit over the glans of a penis and under the foreskin. The ring has an anterior end and a posterior end which is larger than the anterior end. A handle, integral with a bridge as connected to the anterior end, is grasped by the surgeon in properly positioning the ring over the glans. A string or ligature is subsequently tied around the foreskin so as to compress the foreskin into a groove that circumferentially extends around the exterior of the ring. The handle and bridge are then broken off and detached from the ring by means of a structurally weakened junction between the bridge and anterior end of the ring. After about 3-8 days, foreskin under and distal to the ligature dies, and the ring falls off the penis to complete the circumcision.
In some cases, after the circumcision device is positioned and prepared for circumcision with the ring received over the glans, factors such as body movement, penile erection, tissue changes, or simply a missized ring can cause the glans to slip partially or even entirely through the ring and its smaller anterior end so as to excessively protrude therefrom and cause the ring to constrict the penis. As a result, the penis swells and the ring may not fall off the penis after the normal period as intended. In addition to possible infection or damage to the urethra, failure of the ring to fall off the penis necessitates manual removal of the ring, which can require cutting the ring off the penis in an undesirable and delicate procedure.